Lance Winston Hool Kamffer is a Mexican and American filmmaker and actor. He directed the action films Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) and Steel Dawn (1987), the war film One Man's Hero (1999), and the romantic drama film 2 Hearts (2020). He founded the Santa Fe-based film studio Santa Fe Studios in 2011.
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Early life, family and education
Hool was born and raised in Mexico City, the son of an American father and a Mexican mother. His father, Alan, was a diplomat. His mother, Constanza, was an actress, dancer and choreographer who co-founded Ballet Folklórico de México. His maternal great-grandfather was painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. According to Hool, his great-grandfather worked as a financier for Charlie Chaplin. Hool and his brother were childhood friends of Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. His brother, Conrad, is also a filmmaker.
Hool attended the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, graduating with a B.A. and an M.B.A.
Career
Hool made his acting debut in the Howard Hawks film Rio Lobo (1970), Hawks's last film before his death. He worked in the Mexican film industry for 20 years, and was the U.S. representative for the Mexican national film distribution company Pelmex between 1977 and 1980. During the 1970s, he co-starred in two Jorge Rivero Westerns, El payo - un hombre contra el mundo! (1972) and El payo - la montaña del diablo (1974), and played a supporting role in the American horror film Dogs (1977).
In America, Hool produced the thriller films Wolf Lake (1978), 10 to Midnight (1983), and The Evil That Men Do (1984), the adventure film Flipper (1996), and the comedy films Pure Luck (1991) with Sean Daniel and McHale's Navy (1997). Hool directed the Chuck Norris–starring action film Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, which was released in 1985. He also directed the 1987 science fiction action film Steel Dawn. It starred Patrick Swayze and was produced by Hool with his brother, Conrad Hool. Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote, "Steel Dawn, ... has been directed by Lance Hool to emphasize Mr. Swayze's biceps," and Los Angeles Times critic Michael Wilmington wrote, "Hool directs all this so lethargically you might suspect he's gone missing in action himself." Hool directed and produced the historical war film One Man's Hero, about John Riley and the Saint Patrick's Battalion's role in the Mexican–American War, which was released in 1999. Hool cast his sons Brett and Jason in the film. For the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas wrote in a review of the film that it was "directed with vigor and passion by Hool", while Paul Cullum of LA Weekly called his direction "flaccid". Hool then produced the Simon Wincer film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) and executive produced the Tony Scott film Man on Fire (2004).
Lance founded the Santa Fe–based film studio Santa Fe Studios in October 2011, where his son, Jason, was hired as president. It became New Mexico's second-largest film studio, following Albuquerque Studios. Negotiations to open the studio had taken place the year before, when, in an attempt to increase economic growth in Santa Fe, Richardson offered Hool a ten-million-dollar economic development grant to build the studio south of the city, while then–chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico structured the studio's land and financing package. The project was considered controversial among residents of Santa Fe due to Hool's early ties to Richardson. Hool and his associates were sued by attorneys for Santa Fe County for the studio's unpaid debt of over $2.3 million in 2016.
Hool directed the romantic drama film 2 Hearts, inspired by the story of Leslie and Jorge Bacardi of the Bacardi family after Hool's brother, Conrad, met Jorge on a cruise. It was co-written by Robin U. Russin with Hool's daughter, Veronica, and co-produced by Hool with Conrad with a score by Hool's son, Brett, and casting direction by his niece, Caral. The film finished principal photography in July 2018. It was released in theaters in October 2020 and distributed by Freestyle Releasing. After being released onto Netflix, the film became the platform's most-watched film for a week in 2021.
